The Runaways [Blu-ray]

The Runaways [Blu-ray] Review

My first hand recall of the Runaways was my older sister, a JD wannabe, blaring "Born To Be Bad" from the "Queens of Noise" album in her futile attempts to annoy my parents. I wasn't really a Runaways fan but I loved Joan Jett. I jumped on her bandwagon when the "I Love Rock'N' Roll' phenomenon hit which led me to her debut release, "Bad Reputation", previously available only on import until she hit it big. The only time I saw her live was in the winter of 1985 with "The Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth" tour where she headlined with the Ramones. The Runaways were never anything more than a niche band or a curiousity whose greatest success was overseas. What this film argues successfully is that, if anything, they were pioneers for woman rockers. The success of Chrissie Hynde and the Go-Gos, among many others, is almost unimaginable without the ground laid by the Runaways. The film presents the point that the inner workings of rock is a dirty business not for the faint of heart. At the center of the film are the core members of the Runaways, the beautiful but fragile Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) and the tough but determined Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart). The Runaways, the film argues, were doomed from the start because they were treated by their handlers as nothing more than a cheap novelty and a disposable commodity. That said the film ends on a hopeful note showing Currie's recovery from her harrowing experience and Jett dusting herself off and rocking into the next millenium. Fanning is excellent in portraying the delicacy of Currie but Stewart makes her mark as Jett by channelling the ferosity and smarts that are Joan's essence. This may be the best screen portrayal of a rock icon since Val Kilmer embodied Jim Morrison in "The Doors". Not to be overlooked is Michael Shannon's portayal of Kim Fowley whose part Svengali and part Malcolm McLaren who treats his "creation" with more contempt and loathing than adulation. I went into this film with a reference point and I loved it but those uninitiated would be behooved in discovering the Runaways, both the group and film.

The Runaways [Blu-ray] Feature

• STEWART/FANNING/SHANNON

The Runaways [Blu-ray] Overview

“I love Rock n Roll and I love this Movie!” - Jan Wahl, KCBS AM/FM and KRON-TV, San Francisco

"Rock ‘n' roll fans of every gender and generation will identify with this." - A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Stewart and Fanning have never been stronger.” –Michael Phillips, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Runaways [Blu-ray] Specifications

In adapting Cherie Currie's memoir, Neon Angel, Floria Sigismondi focuses on three figures. Sensing imminent stardom, Sunset Strip impresario Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) brings together blond Bowie fanatic Cherie (Dakota Fanning) with raven-haired rocker Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart). Manufactured bands weren't a novel phenomenon in the 1970s, but the Runaways wrote their own songs and played their own instruments, paving the way for the all-girl outfits to come. With a mother (Tatum O'Neal) in Singapore and a perpetually drunk father, Cherie and her sister, Marie (Riley Keough), must fend for themselves. When the group heads out on tour, there's no adult supervision, leading to drinking and drugging from California to Japan, where the crowds go wild, but just as they're taking off in public, they're falling apart in private. Cherie tires of Fowley's tough-love tactics, while her bandmates resent the focus on their sexpot singer. The best thing about Sigismondi's film is that her risky casting choices pay off: Fanning leaves her little-girl roles behind just as easily as Stewart breaks free from her Twilight shackles, so it's too bad Jett has no back story and that the other players, particularly Sandy West (Stella Maeve) and Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton), don't register more as distinct personalities. Shannon's Fowley, on the other hand, steals the show with his profane performance. For a film dedicated to female empowerment, that may not have been the director's intention, but as Fowley says, "This isn't about women's lib; this is about women's libido." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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